Illuminating Anchor
by Olivine
Summary: AU Nanjiroh x Rinko Sweet high school days. Chapter Two: Nanjiroh breaks beakers and Rinko gets scolded.
1. Chapter 1

AU. Hope I finish. Wish me luck.

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chapter one

Rinko had always thought herself a careful person. After all, she was never one to just cross the street without looking both ways twice.

But really, she had let herself _slip_. To be hidden behind a desk in the teacher's lounge while a couple noisily hooked up wasn't exactly…convenient. Yet that was the situation she found herself in.

"O-oh, please, _d-don't_!"

Rinko pressed her burning cheek against the cool desk interior. When would they be done? She had to get home!

She had been so careless. Her assignment had been to deliver a stack of papers to the teacher's lounge, which she had done dutifully. But then she had paused to watch the afternoon's tennis practice for much too long.

The teacher's lounge had a much better view of the courts than her classroom.

All the better to see him with. _Him_ being Echizen Nanjiroh.

Of course, he was an idiot. His presence in class was a joke. He never did his homework, always copying it quickly from the unlucky girl next to him--her. He rarely participated in class, only raising his hand often enough so he couldn't be labeled a "slacker".

And yet, everyone seemed to be drawn to him, as if he was born to take center stage. Maybe it was his charisma, or maybe his strangely irresistible crooked smile.

Whatever everyone's attraction to him was, it magnified a hundred-fold when they saw him work on the tennis courts. It was…inhuman how fluid his movements were, and his usually silly eyes became intense.

Smoldering.

Rinko blushed, covering her face with her hand. He always left her dazed, though he had no idea of this. To his face, she defied him every opportunity she had. But behind his back, she was just as smitten any other girl in the school.

She had been in this "dazzled" state when she had heard the door click open. Without further ado, she had dived behind the desk, her mind void of any rational thoughts. There was no way in _hell_ she would be found ogling at that stupid Nanjiroh.

That stupid, stupid, divinely handsome Echizen Nanjiroh.

"Ugh, shit!" A croaky voice groaned. Rinko heard a zipper being pulled up.

The girl whispered back in a hush voice. "Is someone coming?"

"Shh, I hear footsteps."

The two students frantically pulled their clothes together as the footsteps grew louder.

The boy was already at the backdoor while the girl tried to fix her ribbon in a panicky fashion. "Come on! Stop being such a fat h--"

The door handle twisted, causing the girl to sprint after the boy with her arms shaking wildly. The door swung open.

A husky laughter followed. "Masato, you lucked out! Good thing it wasn't the principal who opened this door, eh?"

The boy, Masato, just flipped up his middle finger and ran out the backdoor, letting out a loud "ha!"

However, Rinko felt her body tense up. Of all the rotten people to find her, it had to be…

"Rinko?" An amused voice called out. "Are you still in here?"

That Nanjiroh! Leave me alone, she wanted to yell back at him. But how could she say anything that would suggest that she had been there the entire time Masato-san had been…

He was not going to let her live this down.

Nanjiroh chuckled, running his hand through his hair. "Am I going to have to find you?"

She didn't answer, cursing her horrible fortune.

"Okay, but go easy on me." He sighed dramatically.

Before she could react, he was bending over the desk and staring into her eyes.

His molten amber eyes held hers and he breathed out, "Rinko."

It was all she could do to murmur, "Yes?" Her fingers gripped her skirt a little more than necessary.

"You're not very good at this."

He stood up and laughed, while her expression went from dreamy to scowling. The nerve…!

Her eyes hardened and she crawled out from the desk, clinging to whatever scraps of dignity she had left. "What do you want, Nanjiroh?"

He was still laughing. "Well, I was going to ask to borrow your class notes because I fell asleep but," he put on a teasing smile, "I'm not sure if I want them from a closet pervert."

Rinko could not even grasp how much she wanted to strangle him. "I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time." She said through clenched teeth, each word saturated with acid.

He just laughed again. "I'm just joking, Rinko. But I still need your notes."

"No." She stood up and started walking away, wishing her face would cool down. Nanjiroh was being generous with her; he could have easily driven her to the ground with embarrassment, but so far, it had been delivered pretty lightly.

"Well, that's too bad." His voice was thoughtful. "You know, I bet everyone would love to hear about how you spied on Masato and Arimi-san on their private affairs…"

Minus fifty points! She spun around. "You. Wouldn't."

"Hmm… and if I would?"

"Go to hell, Nanjiroh."

He caught up to her as she left the room. "How about you lend me your notes, and I won't spill the beans?" He flashed his crooked smile.

She turned away from his face and spoke without looking at him. "Why don't you be a true Saint and just not tell anyone? It's not something you have to use against me."

"I'll take that as a yes to my conditions."

"You're impossible."

"And you're flat." He deadpanned. "Now I don't know about you, but I'd take being impossible over being flat any day."

Rinko would have been offended if she hadn't known that he did not mean it. "You already _are _flat, Nanjiroh. And unless you get plastic surgery, it's moot point."

His eyes grew serious. "You know, I think I'll take you up on that suggestion. Breast implants are exactly what I need."

She fought to keep her lips a straight line.

"In fact, I'll get them on my head."

This time, she couldn't help but let out a light laugh before covering her mouth with her hand.

He smiled and covered his mouth as well. "Oh no, Rinko, you showed some sign of normality! I'd better take you home quick." He grabbed her hand, playing doctor, and led her away from the school.

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(A/N): I've had this planned out for approximately three days and all it took to trigger the first chapter was someone's review that commented on the lack of Rinko x Nanjiroh stories. In fact, there's like, one. Come on, RxN owns Ryosaku.

Expect short chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

Merry Christmas guys: )

**chapter two**

The entire class seemed to tense up as the teacher started calling out names from his desk. They were finally getting their tests back. Rinko did not dare look away from the front desk, flipping her auburn hair out of her eyes as though missing a single page flip or eye glance would be catastrophic.

The teacher licked a finger and stuck it onto the next test paper. He called out: "Rinko."

Counting to three before she stood up, Rinko made sure she did not seem outwardly nervous as she walked up to the front of the class. "Thank you sensei," she smiled as she accepted her paper. The next name was called as she sat back down with her paper face down.

_Please be good, please be good._

She flipped it over. Or was about to, when the apocalyptic sound of glass shattering and people screaming resonated from the room next door. Rinko's eyes widened fearfully as she watched her teacher sprint out of the room, her frozen test paper still lifted halfway off her desk.

As soon as the teacher was out of the room, a low thrum of whispers filled the room. Some were excited, some were scared, but most just questioned what the hell was going on.

The classroom door slid open again and the students all drew back.

A hand stuck out of the door.

"Helloooo!"

A grinning Nanjiroh greeted the class, earning a few laughs and some applause. A few people gave him high fives as he walked to his seat.

"Dude, did you do tha--?"

"Holy shit, Nanjiroh. You roc--!"

"What'd you do?"

Nanjiroh sat down grandiosely and grinned, bathing in his attention. "Peace. I just got a few tennis buddies to lob some balls… the windows were open, the science beakers were right there… no big."

People laughed. "Man, you got us. And we thought there was some freakin' shooting, or something!"

He joined in their laughter. "Dumb ass…"

Rinko just watched in growing anger and frustration at their…_fatheadedness_! Nanjiroh was such a… ugh! Scum of the earth! She turned her head away from them, fearing their voices would drag her down into the Hell of Stupidity.

Her sudden movement made Nanjiroh glance around. He grinned. "Oh Rinko! What are you doing here?" He asked, gesturing toward her seat, the one next to his.

"I sit here."

A couple of their classmates sniggered.

Nanjiroh continued, looking down at her test paper. "Hn? We're getting our tests back? Oh, eighty-nine, not bad…" His voice trailed off, though his eyes stayed on her paper.

Rinko hadn't realized that her paper had been flipped, and having her test score announced aloud by Nanjiroh wasn't what she had in mind.

"Thanks," she answered gruffly. "And quit looking at my paper!"

"I'm not." His staring went on.

Rinko furrowed her brows. _What?_ She glanced down and a blush crept up to her face, following a look of horror. "Pervert!"

Unfortunately, their teacher chose that moment to stomp in. He looked furious and Rinko's comment seemed to have the last straw, opening the flood gates. He started ranting, stabbing his finger in her direction.

"Well, I'm glad you find this all very amusing, Miss Rinko! Maybe you also find it amusing that half of your lab stations are all but unusable because the destroyed beakers contained lethal amounts of dangerous, erosive substances? Do you think it's _funny_ that fixing this will eat away even more at our already-low school funds? Is it just hilarious--_ha ha!_--that the solution ate part of my shoe?"

The class glanced down at the teacher's one-and-a-half of footwear, but Rinko couldn't bring herself to look away.

"N-No, sensei."

The teacher stared hard at her before returning to his desk. He recommenced calling out names.

Rinko couldn't even register the sound. She had been yelled at. Scolded by a _teacher_. Well, she had deserved it, having practically screamed out profanities before. What was her cousin always saying? Don't let your guard down? What a failure she was.

Nanjiroh eyed her semi-trembling form. He ripped off a piece of paper and scribbled: "Are you okay?" Sliding the paper to the edge of his desk, he whispered, "_Rinko_," pointing to the note.

She read it, and was about to nod when she stopped and scribbled back, "Does it look like I'm okay? Idiot."

Nanjiroh raised an eyebrow, but smirk nevertheless. She was going to be fine.

(A/N): omg chapta tooo! (note: N says "Helloooo" in English)


End file.
